Our favourite picks for Summer 2015
Must ogle delphiniums, check out Beds, Booze & Busy Bodies at the museum and must attend Authors in the Hills of Mulmur Festival.
Must ogle
Do you need a dose of gardening inspiration? If your flowerbeds could use a boost, tour the breathtaking summer flora at Caledon’s Plant Paradise Country Gardens during their annual Delphinium Festival and Art in the Garden Show & Sale, July 4 and 5.
Delphiniums will be the stars, but co-owner Lorraine Roberts will also dish on other celebrities of her hardy perennial collection, including native blooms such as echinacea and phlox.
She’ll also share her organic gardening wisdom on how to work without herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
At the same time, you can take in the outdoor art show of works by local artists who will be on hand during the festivities.
Tickets are free. Call 905-880-9090 for information or visit plantparadisecountrygardens.ca
Must marvel
The sepia images from the old days may seem a little drab, but the stories they allude to would be paparazzi-worthy today. In a talk called Beds, Booze & Busy Bodies: Tales of Dufferin County Hotels, curator Sarah Robinson exposes just how much drinking, gossiping and politicking was really going on at area hotels during the years of the temperance movement of the late 19th century.
Get in the mood with food from Rosemont’s historic Globe Restaurant, beer from the Hockley Valley Brewing Company and cider from Spirit Tree Estate Cidery.
Looking over your shoulder won’t be necessary.
The talk is the evening of August 15. Tickets are $17. Call 1-877-941-7787 or visit dufferinmuseum.com
Must attend
If you’re itching for a carnival that goes beyond Ferris wheels and cotton candy, the Bizarre Bazaar is for you. Modelled on an event in Kenya, founders Vandi Hill and Heidi von der Gathen have gathered an eclectic collection of activities, artists, demonstrations, food and drink. Archers and beekeepers will show off their skills.
You can get a dainty mehndi painted on your hand, nibble crickets, fly a drone, sample food trucks, sip alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, and peruse all manner of art and artisanal products.
BizBaz runs the weekend of July 25 and 26 at Osprey Valley Golf Course in Alton. Entrance is free. Call 905-587-0205 for information or visit bizbaz.ca
Must mingle
Now this is our kind of literary salon. Relaxed summer reading is on the agenda at the Authors in the Hills of Mulmur Festival taking place August 23 with the green acres of Pegram Farm as a backdrop.
You’ll meet the authors up close and personal, so here’s your cheat sheet: Plum Johnson’s insightful memoir They Left Us Everything was written as she sorted through her late parents’ home and belongings. Catherine Gildiner’s last installment of her memoir series is called Coming Ashore and starts when she’s 21. Trevor Cole adapted the novel inspired by his actor dad, Norman Bray in the Performance of His Life, for a recent eponymous play at Theatre Orangeville. And if you’re a fan of CBC Radio personality Terry O’Reilly’s show Under The Influence, you’ll gobble up his book The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture.
Tickets are $35 and available at BookLore in Orangeville, the Mulmur Township Office, and soon at pegrampicnics.com
Must listen
Music lovers, mark your calendars. Don’t miss the Belfountain Music Festival, which takes place from July 30 until August 9 at the Melville White Church. The festival features eight chamber music concerts and four student concerts.
The festivities kick off with a concert called Welcome Bach to Belfountain! Zachary Ebin and Urszula Zielinski Brock play violin and Mark Chambers plays the cello in a trio of Bach pieces.
For something more raucous, the venue hosts The Golden Country Classics on August 1 – bring your dancing shoes (or cowboy boots, as the case may be).
On August 3, music nerds can meet violin expert Jaime Weisenblum as he lectures about violins and cellos ranging in value from $1,000 to over $100,000. Audience members will be able to listen to each instrument and ask questions. And music students will be invited to play them.
Tickets for individual events are $20 for adults and $5 for kids, or buy a festival pass. Call the Belfountain Heritage Society at 647-706-0554 or visit belfountainmusic.com